What the Bible Is?

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   The Bible is a collection of 66 "books" that were written over a period of more than 1,500 years. In a typical printed Bible, the longest book (Psalms) takes up more than 100 pages, the shortest (2 John) less than a page.

   More than 40 different people wrote the various books of the Bible. Some of them were rich, some were poor. Among them were kings, poets, prophets, musicians, philosophers, farmers, teachers, a priest, a statesman, a sheepherder, a tax collector, a physician, and a couple of fishermen. They wrote in palaces and in prisons, in great cities and in the wilderness, in times of terrible war and in times of peace and prosperity. They wrote stories, poems, histories, letters, proverbs, and prophecies.
   The Bible is not a textbook or a book of abstract theology, to be analyzed, discussed, and understood only by highly educated theologians and experts. It is a book about real people and about the God who is real.
    The Bible is the inspired Word of God. Theologians and scholars have argued endlessly about the question how a book written by so many authors over so many centuries can possibly be inspired by God. But it is like sitting down at dinner and arguing about the recipe instead of tasting the food, enjoying it, and being nourished by it.
    As "the proof of the pudding is in the eating," so is the proof of the Bible in the reading– with an open mind and open heart. Such a reading will show that the Bible is a divinely inspired interwoven message from God ( compare John 7:17).
    Because it was written so long ago, there are things that we, in the 21st century, may find difficult to understand. But our heart and spirit can grasp what God's heart and His Spirit tell us: that we are beloved by Him, now and forever.
(Source: Halley's Bible Handbook)

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